The country's export of oilmeals in August 2017 has been reported at 139,568 tonnes as compared to 71,879 tonnes in August 2016, an increase of 94%.

Overall oilmeal exports registered a growth of 54% for the period under review.

The country’s export of oilmeals in August 2017 has been reported at 139,568 tonnes as compared to 71,879 tonnes in August 2016, an increase of 94%. The overall exports of oilmeals during April-August 2017 are provisionally pegged at 864,818 tonnes as compared to 485,220 tonnes during the same period last year, an increase of 78%, the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEAI) has said.

“In last three months, the export of oilmeals improved compared to the previous year, thanks to good monsoon, better oilseeds production and price parity. In percentage terms, exports are showing improvement, but it is still lower compared to earlier years,” said B V Mehta, executive director, SEAI.

The country faced drought during 2014-15 and 2015-16, which led to lower production of oilseeds which affected export of oilmeals to a lowest level, however, with good monsoon last year, exports revived to some extent, he said.

During April-August 2017, oilmeal imported by Vietnam from India were reported at 123,121 tonnes as compared to 132,737 tonnes; consisting of 11,698 tonnes of soybean meal, 17,379 tonnes of rapeseed meal and 94,044 tonnes of de-oiled rice bran extraction.

European countries were the major importer of Indian soybean meal. Germany imported 60,674 tonnes of soybean meal and rest of European countries imported 95,410 tonnes. The export from Kandla was reported at 483,581 tonnes (56%), followed by Mumbai, including JNPT, handled 146,655 tonnes (17%), Mundra handled 75,540 tonnes (9%) and Kolkata handled 110,090 tonnes (13%).

For the April-July period, the country’s overall oilmeal exports reported an increase of 54% at 638,468 tonnes, against 413,341 tonnes reported in the same period last year.

Data compiled by the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) reveal that the country’s soybean meal exports for the four-month period stood at 4.69 lakh tonnes as compared to 1.19 lakh tonnes in the same period of the previous year, showing a surge of 292% on a year-on-year basis.

Overall oilmeal exports registered a growth of 54% for the period under review.

“In last three months, the export of oilmeals improved compared to the previous year, thanks to good monsoon, better oilseeds production and price parity,” Mehta said.

“In percentage terms, exports are showing an improvement, but are still lower compared to earlier years,” he added.

Significantly, the country faced droughts in 2014-15 and 2015-16, which led to lower production of oilseeds, bringing exports to a low level. However, the good monsoon last year saw exports revive to some extent, he pointed out.

SOPA, however, maintained that during the current oil year (October 2017 — September 2017), total soymeal exports from October 2016 to July 2017 stood at 16.46 lakh tonnes as against 3.48 lakh tonnes during the same period last year, registering an increase of 372.72%.